1
Pei Ji, styled Wuwei, was from Wenxi in Hedong. His grandfather Mao was a Liang grand master for palace leisure. His father Zhiping was bold and strategic, and was summoned to serve as commander of the Wende guards. During Liang's Putong era the armies campaigned north. Zhiping followed Commander Xiahou Dan in taking Guo and Tong, and for that merit was enfeoffed as Marquis of Fei county. When Hengzhou locals gathered to raid and plunder, an edict made Zhiping acting bearer of the staff, General of Surpassing Martiality, and commander of the campaigns in Hengzhou's five commanderies. When Zhiping arrived, he put them all down at once, and Emperor Wu of Liang praised and rewarded him highly. During Emperor Yuan's Chengsheng era he rose through regular attendant of the Secretariat, right guard general, and administrator of Jinling. When Emperor Wen came to the throne, Zhiping was appointed grand master of glorious happiness and chamberlain for the guards of Cixun Palace, but accepted neither. Instead he built hills, dug ponds, planted flowers and trees, and settled there, meaning to end his days in retirement. He died in Tiankang year 1. He was posthumously made General of Benevolent Prestige and grand master of glorious happiness, with the posthumous title Xizi.
2
As a youth Ji was quick and perceptive, with sound judgment; he had dipped deep into histories and won praise in his day. His first post was law officer on the staff of Liang's Prince of Yuzhang. When Hou Jing rebelled Ji raised fighting men and marched with the Founder. Merit piled up until he was made pacifying-distance general. After the Founder killed Wang Sengbian, Sengbian's brother Sengzhi seized Wu commandery. The Founder sent Huang Ta with an army against him. Sengzhi marched out the Xichang Gate to fight. Ta held him at bay and could not break him. The Founder told Ji: "The Three Wu are the empire's rich core. Even after famine they stay prosperous, yet rebels now gather and the realm wavers. No one but you can settle this. Think hard on your plan." Ji mustered his best troops, traveled light at forced march from Qiantang straight for Wu commandery, [1] and in a single night was under the walls beating drums and storming the gate. Sengzhi thought a great host had arrived, fled by light boat to Du Kan, and Ji entered and took the commandery. The Founder praised him and memorialized his appointment as administrator of Wu commandery.
3
When the Founder took the throne Ji was summoned as left guard general. At the opening of Tianjia (560) he was sent out as bearer of the staff and interior minister of Nankang. Zhang Shaobin, administrator of Yian, rebelled and held his commandery. Emperor Wen made Ji bearer of the staff and commander of the armies north of the range, and he led troops to crush him. Returning, he was made scattered-cavalry regular attendant and left chief clerk of the Secretariat. In the fifth year he was made cloud-banner general and chamberlain for the palace, and enfeoffed as Marquis of Dongxing with six hundred households.
4
When Hua Jiao rebelled upriver, Emperor Xuan was regent as recorder of the Secretariat. He sent every army against Jiao and put Ji in charge of all city defenses, within and without. After Jiao fell, Emperor Xuan succeeded. In the first year of Taijian (569) Ji was made administrator of Dongyang and re-enfeoffed as Marquis of Le'an with one thousand households. In the fourth year he entered court as grand steward. In the fifth year he was transferred to minister of justice.
5
Wu Mingche led the northern campaign. An edict made Ji, in his existing post, overseer of Mingche's army. When Huainan was pacified he was made army-master general and inspector of Yu. Ji was skilled at winning people over and enjoyed deep goodwill among them. He was reassigned bearer of the staff, commander of Qiao province, and inspector of Qiao. Before he took up office, Mingche was ordered to strike Peng and Bian. Ji was made commander and marched in pincer with him. The army was broken at Lüliang and he fell into Zhou hands. Zhou made him senior opening general. In Kaihuang year 14 of Sui (594) he died at Chang'an, aged seventy-three.
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瑒少倜儻，好謀略，博涉經史，尤便書翰。 起家梁輕車臨川嗣王行參軍，累遷為安西邵陵王水曹中兵參軍事。 王出鎮郢州，瑒盡室隨府，甚被賞遇。 太清之難，授假節、宣猛將軍、軍主。 王僧辯之討侯景也，王琳為前軍，琳與瑒同門，乃表薦為戎昭將軍、宜都太守，仍從僧辯救徐文盛於武昌。 會郢州陷，乃留軍鎮巴陵，脩戰守之備。 俄而侯景兵至，日夜攻圍，瑒督所部兵悉力拒戰，賊眾奔退。 瑒從大軍沿流而下，及克姑熟，瑒力戰有功，除員外散騎常侍，封富陽縣侯，邑一千戶。 尋授假節、雄信將軍、衡陽內史，未及之官，仍遷衡州平南府司馬。 破黃洞蠻賊有功，除東莞太守，行廣州刺史。 尋除智武將軍，監湘州事。 敬帝嗣位，授持節、仁威將軍、巴州刺史。
As a youth Yang was bold and fond of strategy; he read widely in the classics and histories and excelled at correspondence. He entered service as acting aide to Liang's Heir of Linchuan in the light-chariot office, then rose to water-and-arms clerk on the military staff of the Prince of Shao-ling, pacifier of the west. When the prince took up his post at Yingzhou, Yang brought his whole household to the headquarters and won high favor. In the Taiqing turmoil he received acting credentials as fierce-martial general and army commander. When Wang Sengbian attacked Hou Jing, Wang Lin led the van. Lin and Yang were schoolmates; Lin recommended him as martial-announcements general and administrator of Yidu, and he followed Sengbian to relieve Xu Wensheng at Wuchang. When Yingzhou fell he stayed behind to hold Baling and strengthened its defenses. Soon Hou Jing's troops came and besieged him day and night. Yang led his men in a full defense and drove the rebels back. He followed the main fleet downstream. At the taking of Guni he fought with distinction and was made supernumerary scattered-cavalry regular attendant and Marquis of Fuyang with one thousand households. Soon he received acting staff as trustworthy-faith general and interior minister of Hengyang. Before he took office he was made marshal of the pacify-the-south headquarters in Heng province. For breaking the Yellow-Cave rebels he was made administrator of Dongguan and acting administrator of Guangzhou. Soon he was made intelligent-martial general and overseer of Xiang province. When the Honored Emperor succeeded he received the staff as benevolent-prestige general and administrator of Ba.
8
高祖受禪，王琳立梁永嘉王蕭莊於郢州，徵瑒為太府卿，〔三〕加通直散騎常侍。 及王琳入寇，以瑒為使持節、散騎常侍、都督郢荊巴武湘五州諸軍事、安西將軍、郢州刺史，總留府之任。 周遣大將史寧率眾四萬，乘虛奄至，瑒助防張世貴舉外城以應之〔四〕，所失軍民男女三千餘口。 周軍又起土山高梯，日夜攻逼，因風縱火，燒其內城南面五十餘樓。 時瑒兵不滿千人，乘城拒守，瑒親自撫巡，行酒賦食，士卒皆為之用命。 周人苦攻不能克，乃矯授瑒柱國、郢州刺史，封萬戶郡公。 瑒偽許以緩之，而潛修戰具，樓雉器械，一朝嚴設，周人甚憚焉。 及聞大軍敗王琳，乘勝而進，周兵乃解。 瑒於是盡有中流之地，集其將士而謂之曰：「吾與王公陳力協義，同獎梁室，亦已勤矣。 今時事如此，天可違乎！」 遂遣使奉表詣闕。
When the Founder took the throne, Wang Lin enthroned Liang's Prince of Yongjia Xiao Zhuang at Yingzhou. Yang was summoned as grand steward [3] and promoted to direct-communication scattered-cavalry regular attendant. When Wang Lin invaded, Yang was made bearer of the staff, scattered-cavalry regular attendant, commander of Ying, Jing, Ba, Wu, and Xiang, pacifying-the-west general and inspector of Ying, with full charge of the rear headquarters. Zhou sent the great general Shi Ning with forty thousand men in a sudden rush. Yang's assistant defender Zhang Shi Gui opened the outer city to them. [4] More than three thousand soldiers and civilians, men and women, were lost. The Zhou army raised siege mounds and scaling ladders and pressed day and night. They used the wind to fire the inner city's southern face and burned more than fifty towers. Yang had fewer than a thousand men. He held the walls himself, walking the battlements with wine and food. Every soldier fought for him to the last. The Zhou attacked hard and failed. They then falsely invested him as pillar of state, inspector of Ying, and duke of a ten-thousand-household commandery. Yang feigned acceptance to buy time while secretly readying arms. Towers, parapets, and engines stood complete by morning, and the Zhou were deeply afraid. When word came that the main army had broken Wang Lin and was marching in triumph, the Zhou lifted the siege. Yang then held the entire mid-Yangzi. He assembled his officers and said: "We served the princes in righteousness and upheld Liang together. We have labored long enough. The times stand as they do. Who defies Heaven?" He sent envoys with a memorial to court.
9
In the first year of Tianjia (560) he was made bearer of the staff, scattered-cavalry regular attendant, pacifying-the-south general and inspector of Xiang, and enfeoffed as Marquis of Dingxiang with one thousand households. Yang could not rest easy and begged to come to court. He was summoned as scattered-cavalry regular attendant and central army commander. [5] Before he took office, Emperor Wen said to him gently: "Zhu Maichen once longed to govern his home commandery. Do you feel the same?" He was then made bearer of the staff, pacifying-the-east general, and administrator of Wu commandery, with a suite of martial pipes and drums. As he set out for his post the emperor's carriage came to the near suburbs to feast and send him off. His home district took it as glory. When his term ended he was recalled as scattered-cavalry regular attendant and central guard commander, keeping his pipes and drums. When Liu Yi rebelled in Dongyang an edict put Yang in command of the river fleet to attack him. After Yi was crushed he was made general who guards the right, retaining his attendant post and pipes and drums. Soon he was sent out as bearer of the staff, pacifying-the-east general, and administrator of Jian'an. In the Guangda era (567) he was dismissed on official grounds, then soon restored as direct-communication scattered-cavalry regular attendant.
10
When Emperor Xuan succeeded, Yang's record and fame were already great, and the emperor relied on him heavily. In Taijian year 4 (572) he was made commander of Jing and Xin, pacifying-the-west general and inspector of Jing, and marched out to hold Gong'an. He strengthened walls and moats, won over distant peoples, and neighboring states feared him. After six years in post he was dismissed again on official grounds and returned as direct-communication scattered-cavalry regular attendant. When Wu Mingche was broken at Lüliang he was made bearer of the staff, commander of frontier river and land forces, general who guards the west, with a suite of pipes and drums. Soon he was scattered-cavalry regular attendant, commander of Jing, Ying, Ba, Wu, and Xiang, and inspector of Ying, keeping staff, rank, and pipes and drums. In the twelfth year he was punished for illicit dealings on the border.
11
When the Last Emperor succeeded he was again made direct-communication scattered-cavalry regular attendant and concurrent minister for founding works. Soon he was made central guard commander with rank and fief restored, then minister of revenue and leader of the footsoldiers commandant. Before long he was added scattered-cavalry regular attendant, then made palace attendant and minister of the ancestral temples. The Last Emperor often visited his house and wrote poems and rhapsodies praising his merit, showing the warmth between throne and subject. He was again made minister of the five arms and leader of the right army general, [6] retaining his palace attendant post. Age wore on him and he repeatedly asked leave to retire; gracious edicts refused. In the first year of Zhenming (587) he died in office, aged seventy-two. The Last Emperor came in person to mourn with deepest grief. He was posthumously made general who guards the army, palace attendant as before, with pipes and drums, court robes, and a suit of garments; funeral costs were generously supplied; his posthumous title was Huanzi.
12
Yang was known for filial service to his parents and deep affection for his younger brothers. He was open-handed by nature and gave his wealth freely to kin and friends. His own household leaned toward luxury: courtyards were terraced into gardens to the limit of woodland and spring beauty; singing bells and dancing girls were seldom matched in the age; guests packed his gate and fine carriages never stopped coming. When he held Yingzhou he lashed more than ten boats into a great barge with a pavilion and pool inside and lotus planted about it. On fair days he gathered guests and officers, floated the long Yangzi with wine set out—a wonder of the age. He often held a lecture hall in his mountain retreat, gathered learned men, and supported them winter and summer; scholars praised him for it. Yet in his own bearing he was plain and never looked down on others because of rank. Master Lang of Xinghuang Temple had mastered the Buddhist canon. [8] Whenever Yang came to the lecture hall they argued points, and the monastic community hung on his words. His ingenuity surpassed others. As minister for founding works he devised much of the army's and state's equipment. He had a keen eye; for his children's marriages he always chose families of quiet distinction. When he died, Secretariat Director Jiang Zong wrote his epitaph. The Last Emperor added forty characters of his own and sent Left Household Minister Cai Zheng with an edict to carve them at Yang's house.
13
其詞曰：「秋風動竹，煙水驚波。 幾人樵徑，何處山阿？ 今時日月，宿昔綺羅。 天長路遠，地久雲多。 功臣未勒，此意如何？」 時論以為榮。
The text runs: "Autumn wind stirs the bamboo; misted waters startle the waves. How many men on the woodcutters' path—where is that mountain slope? Today's sun and moon—the brocade and gauze of nights gone by. Heaven is long and the road far; earth endures and clouds are many. Merit not yet carved in stone—what shall we make of this heart?" Men of the time took it as glory.
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【評】
Appraisal
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The historiographer writes: In Liang's last years rebels swarmed. The Founder raised the banner of righteousness to pacify the realm. Pei Ji saw early whom to follow and was ever in the field, smashing the enemy's van and driving them back [9] again and again. Sun Yang had civil and military talent and won his sovereign's trust. In command he followed the marshal's art; in battle he took cities and won repeated glory. He was generous and approachable, and soldiers admired him. Yet he was not steady by nature and was often dismissed for fault—perhaps a man in Chen Tang's mold.
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校勘記
Collation notes
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Note 1, on "went straight from Qiantang toward Wu commandery": Hu Sanxing notes in the Comprehensive Mirror that Chen Baxian returned from Yixing to Jiankang and sent Pei Ji to help Huang Ta attack Wu commandery; a route straight from Qiantang to Wu commandery makes no sense, so Qiantang must be an error.
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Note 4, on "Yang's assistant defender Zhang Shigui opened the outer city in response": emended from the Comprehensive Mirror, Chen Wendi, Tianjia year 1, and Yuan Gui 399.
22
〔五〕徵為散騎常侍中領軍南史作「徵為侍中、領軍將軍」。
On "summoned as scattered cavalry regular attendant and central army commander": the Southern Dynasties history reads summoned as palace attendant and army commander.
23
〔六〕領右軍將軍「右」南史作「左」。
On "concurrently right army general": the Southern Dynasties history reads left for right.
24
On "posthumous title Huan-zi": Zhang Senkai's collation note holds that zi is superfluous. Present review: Yang was first made marquis of Dingxiang; in Taijian year 12 he lost his title for frontier dealings; when Houzhu succeeded he regained the marquisate—so writing "zi" here is wrong; Zhang is right.
25
On "Master Lang of Xinghuang Monastery, thoroughly versed in the Buddhist canon": Yuan Gui 821 reads Master Huilang.
26
〔九〕 （推） 摧鋒卻敵據北監本、汲本、殿本改。
Collation note nine. (Tui) On "crush the vanguard and repel the enemy": emended per the Northern Supervisory, Ji, and Hall editions.